A Trask in Hand
by Tracy Diane Miller
Summary: When Gary and Brigatti accept Lois and Clark’s invitation to visit Metropolis, Gary finds himself in danger as he faces a deadly foe of Superman’s.
1. Default Chapter

A Trask in Hand  
  
Summary: When Gary and Brigatti accept Lois and Clark's invitation to visit Metropolis, Gary finds himself in danger as he faces a deadly foe of Superman's. This story is a sequel to "Hobson's Choice" and "Strange Visitor from Chicago".  
  
Disclaimer: Early Edition and Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman belong to their creators. No copyright infringement intended. No profit is being made.  
  
Author's Notes: In late November 2000, I wrote "Hobson's Choice". This story was my very first fan fiction effort and I wrote it because I wanted to see Gary and Brigatti as a couple. I also wanted Gary to tell Brigatti about the Paper and to have them working together on saves. But before that could happen, I decided that Brigatti needed to have a back-story and to demonstrate more layers of vulnerability, to be a "softer" character. Whether or not I achieved that goal is subject to interpretation, but I was very happy with the results of this initial effort. The next month, I ventured into my very first crossover story with "Strange Visitor from Chicago". This sequel to "Hobson's Choice" showed Gary receiving tomorrow's edition of The Daily Planet with a telling headline that exposed The Man of Steel's secret identity. Gary traveled to Metropolis determined to prevent the world from learning Clark Kent's secret. There were some comic consequences that arose from Gary's efforts. In the end, I like to think that a bond was formed between the two men, as both knew the other's secret and vowed to safeguard the knowledge.  
  
Most of you know that in January 2001, I wrote what was, and still is, my absolute favorite crossover, "Mirror Image". How thrilled I was to have Gary Hobson and Homefront's Jeff Metcalf occupying the same universe. The personal satisfaction that I experienced writing that story, along with the incredible and continued overwhelming reception from readers for that story and its various sequels has been wonderful and much appreciated. But surprisingly, even three years later, there are readers who have urged me to write the sequel to "Strange Visitor from Chicago". That sequel has always been safely tucked away in the recesses of my mind, but with a slew of continuing stories and so many short stories (both Early Edition and Homefront), I figured that I wouldn't get around to it for several years. Last night, this story wouldn't leave me alone so I decided to go for it and begin telling the tale.  
  
Author: Tracy Diane Miller  
  
E-mail address: tdmiller82@hotmail.com  
  
I dedicate this story to my best bud, Claudine Massih g.  
  
A Trask in Hand  
  
Chapter One  
  
November 1993: Smallville  
  
Martha and Jonathan Kent and their neighbor, Wayne Irig, wiggled to break free from the tight ropes that connected them to each other as the angry flames raced closer towards them. Clark hurried to the site of his parents' confinement. With a powerful breath, Clark inhaled the flames then exhaled a cloud of smoke that painted the Smallville skyline.  
  
From a close distance, Jason Trask watched in disbelief. As the head of Bureau 39, Trask's mission was to destroy Superman. The diabolical and militant Trask believed that the alien had come to Earth to conquer the human race. Months earlier, Trask deduced that there was a connection between the Man of Steel and the Daily Planet's star reporters, Lois Lane and Clark Kent who first broke the story of the visitor from another planet's arrival in Metropolis. Trask had even considered that the connection was telepathic. Consequently, Lois and Clark had been forced to submit to a lie detector test. When the results weren't what Trask had wanted, he later kidnapped the reporters and tossed them from an airplane expecting that this would lure Superman. The ploy worked. But the missile that Trask had disengaged failed to kill Superman.  
  
Bureau 39 went underground for a while before resurfacing in Smallville, Kansas. Trask was elated with the discovery of a green meteor rock, Kryptonite, in the small town. Trask later learned that the rock had properties that could kill Superman. The Kents and Irig were used as bait. What Trask never counted on was the revelation that Clark Kent was Superman.  
  
Although weakened by the Kryptonite that Trask had placed next to him, Clark summoned enough strength to bravely toss the lethal rock out of harm's way. A fight ensued between Trask and Clark; the two men ended up wrestling in the water. Just as Trask was about to shoot Clark, Rachel, Smallville's sheriff, shot Trask.  
  
The bullet appeared to have hit its mark. Trask's body sunk into the bottom of the murky waters.  
  
Trask was dead.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Metropolis: Present Day  
  
Sitting in the hard wooden chair and with his hands tied behind his back, the tight ropes biting into his flesh, Gary endured the "interrogation".  
  
Jason Trask wasn't a very patient man and any modicum of patience was nearly exhausted on his captive. He wanted answers and he was going to get them by any means necessary.  
  
"I'm going to ask you one last time, Mr. Hobson. Where is Superman?"  
  
Now was not the time to be defiant, but Gary knew that he couldn't tell this madman what he knew. Clark would be killed if he did.  
  
If only he had his early edition.  
  
"Look, I already told ya, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here with my girlfriend on vacation." Gary replied.  
  
A brief silence.  
  
"Then that is very unfortunate for you, Mr. Hobson," Trask remarked, the corners of his mouth crinkled in a wry smile, "I hope that she will come to your funeral."  
  
Mud green eyes watched in horror as Trask placed an explosive device on a table a few feet away from Gary.  
  
Trask proceeded towards the door. Turning back around to face Gary, he said, "You know the bad thing about being a hero, Mr. Hobson? A hero's death is never pleasant." With those words, Trask left the room.  
  
The timer on the explosive ticked away. 


	2. Installment 2

Chapter Two  
  
One week earlier...  
  
It was as if Gary had taken one step forward and three steps backwards in his relationship with Brigatti. Sadly, this was after it had taken such a long time to cultivate trust between them. They had exposed their vulnerabilities and had allowed the other into their hearts, tentatively at first; then the trust between them grew stronger with each passing day. He had shared with her his secret about the Paper. But instead of rebuffing him along  
  
with the kind of life that he led, she had willingly become a part of that life giving him the help and support that he needed.  
  
Now, a lie had threatened to undermine the very foundation of that trust.  
  
He never wanted to lie to her, but he had no choice. When he received the early edition of the Daily Planet, the telling missive revealing Superman's secret identity, he felt a powerful connection to Clark Kent. Yet, he was in a bit of a quandary. There was a part of him that questioned why any of this was his problem. His own paper gave him enough problems to handle every day in Chicago without him having to travel all the way to  
  
Metropolis. Tomorrow's edition of the Sun-Times had failed to appear. He was nursing a sore leg from previous night of too much salsa dancing. He wanted a day off. No, he deserved a day off. But his conscience (and Marissa's urging) wouldn't allow him to rest and do nothing.  
  
He could have told Brigatti the purpose for his trip, but he reasoned that the less people who knew, the better. So, he lied telling her that he needed to go to Hickory for the day to help his parents out with a problem.  
  
It should have all been so simple. The early edition of the Daily Planet said that an amateur photographer would snap a photo of Clark Kent changing into the Superman suit as the hero rushed to prevent a child from falling into a well. All he had to do was to  
  
arrive there before Superman, save the kid, and then fade into the background. Except nothing went as he had planned. Curiosity got the better of him and he made the mistake of visiting the Daily Planet newsroom hours before the mishap to sneak a peek at the award-winning reporters. A few more close calls followed and soon, Lois and Clark suspected that he was stalking them. They had investigated him and during the course  
  
of that investigation had contacted Brigatti and told her that he was in Metropolis. Fortunately, in the end, the child was saved and he told the reporters his real reason for coming to Metropolis. They knew his secret. Clark had even offered to explain the situation to Brigatti.  
  
However, on the plane back to Chicago and the subsequent cab ride to McGinty's, Gary pondered how he would make things right again with Brigatti. He had violated her trust. Would she be able to forgive him?  
  
It wouldn't take long for him to find out the answer to that question. When he walked into McGinty's, he found her waiting for him. 


End file.
